Bound
by BananaGuts
Summary: Draco and Hermione fight too much. Professor McGonagall has had enough, so she puts a spell on the two. Now, they have to be within 2 feet of each other at all times. What will happen? Will they settle their differences, or will this end in disaster? Lots of DRAMIONE love and angsty stuff :) Rated T to be safe.
1. Chapter 1

Hermione Granger was trembling, pointing her wand at a sneering Draco Malfoy. "I swear, Malfoy. Say that word one more time and see what happens." Still smirking, he pulled his wand from his pocket, nonchalantly twirling it in his fingers before calmly pointing it at Hermione and saying,

"Mudblood." A strangled sort of scream burst from her lips, but before she could fire a single spell, both she and Draco were levitated into the air and pressed tightly against the wall by an unseen force. Striding through the crowd of students, Professor McGonagall came forward. With a flick of her wrist, both Hermione and Draco's wands were wrenched out their hands and into the stern professor's.

"That is quite enough." She said.

"Professor, I was - ". Hermione began to try to defend herself, but McGonagall quickly interrupted.

"I wasn't finished." She said, silencing Hermione. "You two have caused nothing but chaos and trouble whenever you come within a fifty foot radius of each other. Since the beginning of this year, you have been a pain in my side. There is enough going on without you two making it worse every other day. I simply cannot let this continue. That is why, effective immediately, I will be enforcing a new punishment on you both." She waved her wand, and the two teens dropped to the ground. Hermione looked nervous and pensive at the thought of a new punishment, but Draco simply rolled his eyes and muttered something under his breath. "From this moment, until I decide you have learned your lesson, you both will be placed under a certain spell of mine. Once it is placed, you two will be forced to be within two feet of each other at all times." Hermione gasped, too shocked to speak, at the same moment that Draco sputtered,

"What?!"

"Along with that, both of your wands are revoked until I say otherwise." She continued.

"Professor, you can't be serious!" Hermione protested.

"Oh, I assure you, Miss Granger. I am quite serious." She calmly retorted. "It brings me no pleasure in having to resort to such means, but you leave me no choice."

"Bollocks." Draco muttered. "I'm leaving." He turned, starting to walk down the hall. Before he could take one step, however, Professor McGonagall raised her wand and cast the formidable-sounding spell. Suddenly, he and Hermione were dragged towards each other, only stopping when they were two feet apart, just like McGonagall said.

"I really hope you two learn." She said almost sadly, then turned as if to leave.

"Professor, wait!" Hermione called out. "What about sleeping? Or our classes? Or.." she gasped, as if she suddenly realized a horrible truth. "What about _showers?" _

"You both are taking the exact same classes, just at different times. Pick one schedule and follow that. As for sleeping and showering, be grateful I didn't make the distance less than two feet." And, with that, she left, leaving a very shocked Draco and Hermione in her wake. As soon as she was out of sight, the students watching them began snickering. Draco glared at Hermione.

"This is ridiculous. I don't believe it." He made as if to walk away, but as he took a step, Hermione took a step in the same direction. He paused, then took another step, just to be sure. Hermione took another step, as well. He frowned, piercing her with a hateful stare.

"I'm not doing it, I swear." She defended. He made sort of a growling noise.

"I know." He said in resignation, running a hand through his platinum-blonde hair. "It would seem," he said, leveling a look of disgust at Hermione. "that, for the time being, we are stuck with each other."


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Zilch, nada, noodle. (If you understood that reference, you are amazing!) Sadly, I own nothing. Sigh…

Anyways, we left off at: "It would seem," he said, leveling a look of disgust at Hermione. "that, for the time being, we are stuck with each other."

"Hermione!" a voice called out. Hermione looked around, trying to find the source. Suddenly, Ron Weasly and Harry Potter pushed their way through the crowd. "We came as soon as we heard." Ron said, rather breathlessly.

"Are you okay?" Harry asked her. She nodded.

"I'm fine, but.." she hesitated, not wanting to admit her new punishment.

"But what?" Ron demanded.

"McGonagall, she.. she put a spell on Malfoy and I. We can't be further than two feet apart at all times." She admitted dejectedly.

"WHAT?!" Both Ron and Harry bellowed. Harry turned to Malfoy, pulling his wand. "What did you do to her?" he asked angrily. Draco sneered.

"I didn't do anything. It's not my fault your little mudblood couldn't control her temper." At the word 'mudblood', Hermione clenched her hands into fists.

"Shut up, Malfoy. Don't call her that." Ron defended.

"Aww, how precious. The witless duo, to Granger's protection. I bet –."

"Shut up." Hermione interrupted. "This is all your fault, because you wouldn't stop calling me that. I've had enough."

"What are you going to do, Granger? Cry to your little friends? Tell McGonagall? In case you haven't noticed, there is nothing you or your idiotic friends can do, and now, thanks to that joke of a professor, you'll be hearing it a lot more." Draco cruelly pointed out.

"You little.." Ron tried to pull out his wand, but Hermione stopped him. She looked tired.

"Ron, it's okay." She said. "You should go. You'll be late for class."

"But –"

"No, Ron. I'll be fine. I can handle this. I'll see you two later, okay?" she said calmly. Hesitatingly, they nodded and slowly walked away, heads close together as they talked. Hermione sighed in defeat. "Okay." She said, turning to face Draco. "Let's figure this out."

"Thirty seconds ago, you were ready to punch me in the face, now suddenly you want to calmly discuss the situation?" Draco asked incredulously.

"Yes. Is that a problem?" she asked sharply.

"No, I suppose not." He replied.

"Alright then. Whose schedule should we follow?"

"Mine." Draco replied immediately.

"Why?" she asked.

"Does it matter?" he asked defensively. She studied him for a moment, then decided it wasn't worth the argument.

"No." she said. "Okay, we'll follow your schedule. But if we do that, then I think it's only fair if we stay in the Gryffindor room."

"Absolutely not!" he bellowed, glaring at a straggling student who stopped and stared at his outburst.

"Well I don't want to sleep in a Slytherin room." She protested. "And I don't think there are any spare rooms lying about…" her voice trailed off as her face took a pensive look.

"What is it?" Draco asked cautiously. She smiled, proud of her brilliant idea.

"I know where we can stay." She said.

"Not a Gryffindor -."

"No, no. Something better."

"Anything's better than staying in a Gryffindor room." Hermione chose to ignore that comment.

"Follow me." She said, and began walking toward the staircase. Draco, pretending he had a choice, followed. After a few minutes of silence, however, he became too curious and had to ask,

"Where are we going, exactly?" At that precise moment, however, she stopped, gesturing to an empty wall.

"Here." She said proudly. Draco began to question her sanity, until parts of the wall started fading, creating the shape of a humble-looking door.

"What is this?" he asked.

"This is where we will stay. Trust me, it's perfect." She assured him.

"Yes, okay." He said, waving his hand as if brushing off her comment. "But you didn't answer my question. What is this?"

"This," she said, as the door swung open. "Is the Room of Requirement."

Author's Note: Just a few things..

If you have reviewed, I LOVE YOU! Please, please, please review. How else am I to know if my stories are any good?

I just got my nails done, like two weeks ago. Now, for normal people, two weeks is ample time to adjust to acrylic nails. But, alas, I am not normal. So typing is still a bit weird for me. If there are embarrassing spelling errors, that is probably why.

I'm trying to make my characters as accurate as possible, but I haven't read the books in, like, forever. And I haven't seen the movies in a while, either. To be honest, most of my character development ideas are from other fanfics. Let me know how I'm doing on that.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Though I wish I did, I own nothing. Darn.

"The Room of Requirement provides whatever the user needs. This is the best – and, really, the only – option we have." Hermione said. Draco nodded.

"Okay. I suppose this will work." He admitted. Hermione scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"Of course this will work. It _was _my idea, wasn't it?" she retorted. He gave her a contemptuous look and grudgingly said, "Come on. Let's get to class."

After a very long day of constantly bumping into each other, arguing over where to sit in their classes and in the Great Hall, and an innumerable amount of dirty looks and insults exchanged with each other, Hermione and Draco collapsed into the large bed provided by the Room of Requirement, thoroughly exhausted.

"This is impossible." Draco muttered.

"Yeh. I figured that out, thanks. What are we going to do?" she asked.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, how are we going to make this better? Something's got to change, Malfoy."

"I know what's got to change. This ridiculous hex McGonagall put on us."

"Well, obviously that won't change. But thanks for mentioning it." Hermione said sarcastically.

"Ugh," Draco groaned. "I'm exhausted. Can we not talk about this right now?"

"Fine." Hermione replied, and rolled over, trying to get comfortable.

"Oh, and Granger?" Draco said.

"What?" she asked tiredly.

"If you touch me at all tonight while I'm sleeping, I'll –"

"Oh, please." She interrupted. "I wouldn't touch you if my life counted on it, Malfoy. Don't flatter yourself." And with that, silence fell over them and they both drifted off to sleep.

Hermione slowly woke to find her hand fisted in some materiel, her head nuzzled on something hard yet comfortable, and her legs tangled with . . . Draco's. She was practically on top of him, she realized in horror. With her head on his chest and her hand gripping his shirt, Hermione was appalled to find that she was rather content. It felt . . . nice. _That doesn't mean anything, _she thought to herself. _The action itself feels nice. Draco has nothing to do with it. _She knew he would likely strangle her if he knew how they slept last night, so she slowly lifted herself off, trying not to wake him. Suddenly, his arm snaked around her waist and held her to him tightly, making it impossible for her to move without waking him. Gingerly, she craned her neck until she could see the alarm clock. 6:56. The alarm would wake Draco in four minutes. Hermione had two options: continue trying to wiggle free from Draco and hope he doesn't wake, or lay back down for four minutes and, when he wakes, express outrage to find his hand around her waist. She chose the latter. Carefully she laid her head back on his chest and hoped to Merlin that he wouldn't make an attempt on her life when he woke.

Draco's eyes snapped open at the sound of the alarm. With a groan, he made to roll over and shut it off . . . only he couldn't. He looked down to see a curly mop of brown hair on his chest. Hermione. Snuggled up against him. He should feel disgusted, but he only felt . . . hmm. Not sure exactly what it was he was feeling, only that it was neither good or bad, Draco was pulled from his disconcerting train of thought when Hermione moaned softly and lifted her head, blinking sleepily.

"What the – " she mumbled. "I can't move." With a start, Draco realized where his arm was. Apparently, Hermione did, too. She abruptly shoved herself off of him and sat up, shock and anger evident in her eyes. _Lands, those are some expressive eyes. Kind of pull you in. _Draco's thoughts were again interrupted and Hermione indignantly declared, "When you told me not to touch you last night, I assumed that went both ways. Evidently I was wrong." _Right, we hate each other._

"Oh, shut up, Granger. I'm pretty sure even I'm not strong enough to drag you on top of me in my sleep. Are you sure you just couldn't resist?" he teased with his trademark smirk. A pretty blush stole over her cheeks, and Draco's smirk deepened when she didn't immediately retort.

"Right. Like I would ever willingly cuddle a ferret." Bringing up his humiliating experience with Professor Moody was a bit of a low blow, she admits. But she was flustered to have him practically guess the truth behind their accidental snuggle-fest. Hermione thought she would relish in Draco's expression, but as his features hardened and his eyes glinted with something dangerous, she only felt nervous. Very nervous. Especially when he slammed his fist onto the alarm clock, finally shutting it off. Even more so when he slowly sat up, never breaking eye contact, and leaned forward. Hermione scootched back, but he kept advancing. So nervous was she, that she didn't notice the edge of the bed nearing. Suddenly, she slid back too far, and gravity took over. In the blink of an eye she swiftly lost her balance and fell to the floor, the binding spell pulling Draco right along with her. Thankfully, his quick reflexes allowed him to catch his upper body before his face slammed into hers. The fall had knocked the breath out of Hermione, and her eyes widened in panic as, for a moment, she couldn't breathe.

"Relax." Draco said in a surprisingly gentle tone. "Give it a moment." She did. Her breath came back, and with a loud gasp, she sucked in the air. The tension that had filled the room just a minute before evaporated, and they stared at each other. "Are you alright?" He finally asked, breaking the silence.

"Wow. For a second there, you almost sounded like you actually care." She said softly.

"Of course I care. I'd hate to have to drag around a dead body." He joked. She smiled.

"I'm okay." Her brow furrowed as she contemplated her next words. "I . . . I'm sorry I called you a ferret."

"Are you really, or are you just worried I'll do something terrible to you?" Hermione realized with a start that this was a new side of Draco she had never seen before. A gentler, calmer Draco who liked to tease and joke around. She found herself craving more.

"A little of both." She joked in return. He smiled, and her breath caught. When he smiled like that, a genuine smile, his entire face transformed into something captivating and . . . _What is wrong with me? _Hermione thought.

Heart thundering, Draco noticed exactly where every part of his body was, in relation to Hermione's. Hands on either side of her head, close enough to feel her soft hair. Face mere inches from hers, allowing a perfect view of those eyes. Chest and hips barely brushing hers, but still sending shocks through him. Legs in between hers, which were bent at the knees. _What is wrong with me? _Draco thought. _This is ridiculous, _he thought, and forced himself to a standing position, breaking whatever moment he and Hermione just shared. She followed suit, and they began to prepare for the day, neither one speaking.

Okay, okay. You have every right to hate me. But please don't. I'm not some lazy pirate who doesn't do anything (sorry, another reference – I couldn't resist ;) ). College is HARD, and I've had to work TWO jobs this summer. That leaves hardly any time for myself. And what time I do have, I usually spend it preparing for college or working on my book. It's hard to prioritize. But I really will try to update sooner next time than, like, half a year. Sorry about that. Anyways, thanks for your reviews. Please continue posting more reviews. They literally make my day when I read them. You guys are the best! Be back soon (hopefully).


	4. Chapter 4

Okay, y'all. You know the drill. I don't own anything, I'm just borrowing the characters for a bit. You're welcome for updating so soon. I hope you appreciate all that I do for you. Tee-hee. Alright, enjoy.

Hermione, upon first entering the Room of Requirement with Draco, made sure to be very specific in her requests for the room. She made sure to picture in her mind dividers that would block one's view of another whilst changing clothes. And a shower with a curtain, not a partially-transparent door. That was how their mornings commenced, with one behind the divider or curtain – depending on whether they were showering or changing – and the other waiting on the other side. Never before had Hermione felt so self-conscious. Getting dressed and showering with the Slytherin Prince a mere two feet away was nerve-wracking beyond compare. Draco, however, seemed perfectly at ease stripping off his shirt before he was behind the divider, only because he knew Hermione was blushing furiously with embarrassment. After a week or so, however, Hermione began to stop getting so embarrassed at his antics. Though neither would admit, they both began to grow comfortable around the other. For a while, they were settled into a calm, easy routine. Until one day when everything changed.

For some time now, Hermione had been developing a crush on Ron. And she thought that maybe he felt the same way. One afternoon, she and Draco were in the library doing homework when Draco's on-and-off girlfriend, Pansy, sauntered in, looking for Draco. After sneering at Hermione, she announced in a practiced, sultry voice that she had something to show the two. Batting her eyelashes at Draco, she convinced them to follow her, saying that it would be 'really fun'. They put their books in their bags and went with her. She led them to the Great Hall.

"What are we supposed to be looking at?" Draco asked, holding back the urge to roll his eyes at Pansy's eagerness. She simply gave a wicked, malicious smile and pointed to the Gryffindor table. There sat Ron... with Lavender. On his lap. Snogging him. And him snogging her back, just as enthusiastically. Hermione's heart dropped.

Draco wrinkled his nose at the two kissing, but he didn't understand why Pansy had showed them this. Until he heard a hitch in Hermione's breath. Until he looked at her and saw that her face had turned a deathly pale. Until he looked closer and saw her eyes watering, chin trembling, and her hands, clenched into fists, shaking. Suddenly, he realized. There were Slytherin students all around, cruelly laughing at Hermione. They had brought her here, knowing that Ron and Lavender were here as well. Practically everyone could tell, just by watching her interact with the ginger idiot for five minutes, that she liked him. The maliciousness of their actions had reached new levels today… and Draco was furious.

"Draco.." Hermione said, just as a tear made its way down her cheek. "Can we leave? Please?" she was looking mostly at the ground, avoiding eye contact with anyone. But she jerked her head up in surprise when Draco said,

"No." And, before she could protest, and before he could think rationally, he was marching away, forcing her to follow him. Striding with anger and purpose, Draco walked over to where Ron and Lavender were sitting. In one swift movement, he pulled Lavender off and punched Ron squarely in the nose. Hermione heard a crack, and blood began spurting. Lavender screamed. Recovering quickly, Ron leapt off the table, and tackled Draco to the ground. They fought each other for about half a minute, until Hermione regained her senses and could move. After a lot of struggling and an elbow to the gut, she managed to finally pull Ron off of Draco. Most would have expected her to turn to Ron and make sure he was okay, get him to the infirmary, but she surprised everyone, most of all Draco. She shoved Ron away, hard, and helped Draco up. She took his face in her hands and inspected the bruise forming under his left eye. She murmured softly, asking if he needed to go to the infirmary. He shook his head, saying there was one more thing he needed to do and then they could just go back to their room. Once she agreed, he calmly walked (Hermione following, of course) to where Pansy stood dumbfounded. "You are pitiful." He stated in the most condescending tone he could muster. Pansy's face immediately turned a blotchy red.

"D-Draco?! What is wrong with you? Why are you defending _her, _the mudblood?" Draco got a deadly look in his eyes, causing Pansy to step back, and he opened his mouth to argue. He was stopped, however, by a small, soft hand slipping into his and a quiet voice saying,

"Draco. She's not worth it." He looked down to see Hermione. He debated for a moment, then nodded at her. Turning to leave, he paused just long enough to say to Pansy, "We are through. For good this time. I don't ever want to see you again." She began sobbing, but Draco couldn't care less. Because at that same moment, Ron bellowed across the Great Hall.

"HERMIONE!" Draco felt her grip his hand tighter. They kept walking, their backs to him. "How could you?! I'm your best friend!" He waited a moment to see if she would respond, assuming that she would. When they didn't stop, he yelled one final word. "Traitor!" Hermione's step faltered, but they continued out the door. Neither spoke until they reached the Room of Requirement. Once inside, Draco asked,

"Are you alrigh-"

"Here, let's get some ice on your face. That bruise is starting to look nasty. And I need to have a look at your hand. I heard a crack and it was probably from his nose breaking but I want to make sure you haven't broken anything. I'm not really sure how to fix a broken bone, though, because I don't have my wand. If it is broken, we'll probably have to visit the infirmary. But there'll be professors there and one of them is bound to give us detention, considering you threw the first punch. And with no reason –"

"I had a reason." Draco interrupted her nervous babbling. "He hurt you."

"Well it's not like I ever told him how I felt. He can't be blamed because I was too afraid."

"Please. Everyone could tell. Even he's not _that _stupid."

"Everyone?.. So that's why Pansy… Was I really that obvious?" she sounded dejected.

"Sort of." He replied with a gentle smile. "But that's in the past now." His face grew serious, and before she could start up with more ranting, he took her face in his hands. "Are you okay? Be honest." She cast her eyes downward, not responding. "Hermione." He whispered. She looked up with tear filled eyes.

"No." Without hesitation, Draco pulled her to his chest in a fierce embrace as she began sobbing. After a few minutes, he led her over to the couch in front of the fireplace. Sitting down, he rested his arm over her shoulders and held her close. She tried once to protest and push away, saying she was getting his shirt wet. He immediately and honestly stated that he didn't care, and she didn't argue again. Eventually she fell asleep. Draco was content to stay like that for as long as she needed, but just then a knock sounded. He gently laid her down on the couch and answered the door. There stood Professor McGonagall.

"Mr. Malfoy." She greeted calmly.

"Professor." He drawled. "I suppose you're here to give me detention?"

"You suppose correctly. You'll be cleaning classroom desks every day after classes for two weeks."

"Okay." He agreed. She looked a bit startled at his lack of argument, but decided not to question it.

"And, of course, Miss Granger will have to join you."

"I know." He gave a small, almost imperceptible smile and nodded at Professor McGonagall as she left. Draco shut the door and went back to Hermione.

You _guys. _I have recently become a big fan of FREMIONE. Rest assured, Dramione will always take precedence, but I might throw a little bit of that in there, because, ya know, draaammmaaa! Haha, fun fun fun! Anyways, hope you enjoyed, please review, as always. The more reviews I get, the more motivated and the more likely I am to write more and update sooner. See ya soon!


	5. Chapter 5

**Okay, there was quite a bit of drama last chapter, so I thought I'd give you a fluffy chapter. You're welcome. Disclaimer: I worship JK Rowling, and would never steal her lovely characters. Only borrow. I own nothing.**

Every Gryffindor was officially not speaking to Hermione, meanwhile the Slytherins weren't sure how to act towards Draco. They loved that he socked Weasley, but protecting "the mudblood" and publicly humiliating Pansy didn't exactly get him into their good graces. For the most part, they acknowledged him, but did their best to avoid him. The Gryffindors, however, went out of their way to bump into Hermione in the halls. Hard. All while shooting her their best death glare. Harry didn't go that far, but he was clearly siding with Ron. Needless to say, Hermione was utterly miserable. The only thing that made it bearable was Draco. Though she had yet to figure out why, he had become startlingly gentle and kind with her. He made was continually joking and making her laugh. At nights before bed they would sit on the couch and he would engage her in the most interesting, funny, and wholesome conversation she'd had in a long time. He took the time and effort to listen, really listen to her when she'd had a particularly rough day. He still called her 'Granger', but it no longer sounded like an insult when it left his mouth. It now came across as an affectionate nickname. Against all reason, and all odds, Hermione considered Draco her friend. And, since her supposed best friends were still not speaking to her, he was, at the moment, her closest friend.

One day, while serving out Draco's detention sentence in the Potions classroom, Hermione stopped scrubbing the desk she was working on to twist and wiggle around.

"What in the blazes are you doing?" Draco asked.

"There's an itch.." she gritted out with a scrunched face before contorting her arms to try to reach the offending spot. He chuckled and walked to her.

"Here, let me get it… Quit twisting, you'll hurt yourself." She stopped moving and let him place his hand on her back. "Here?" he asked. She nodded. He began scratching, and she sighed with contentment. Suddenly, his hand drifted a few inches lower, and she quickly twisted away.

"Not there, that tickles." She said with a small giggle. His eyes narrowed and he gave a predatory grin.

"You're ticklish?" he asked. Her eyes widened.

"No!" she said quickly. He ignored her and advanced. With a squeal, she tried to dart away, but his long arms wrapped around her from behind and pulled her to his chest. He used one arm to wrap it around her middle, holding her to him and pinning her arms, and the other to mercilessly tickle her sides. She screamed and thrashed, but he only held her tighter. "Draco!" she tried to protest, but only managed to squeal his name before she was laughing too hard to speak. He suddenly stopped and whispered in her ear.

"What will you give me if I stop?" chills coursed over her body at his tone.

"I don't know.." she said uncertainly.

"Wrong answer." He began tickling her again.

"Anything!" she called out, gasping for breath. He stopped. "Anything you want. Just let me go. Merlin, I'm about to pee." He gave a loud guffaw and released her. She turned cautiously to face him. "Well?"

"Well, what?"

"You let me go. So what do you want from me?" In an instant, his eyes changed from playful to dark and intense.

"What do I want?" he repeated softly, and took a step towards her. She involuntarily stepped back, and was met with a wall. Draco kept advancing, never breaking eye contact, until no more than an inch separated the two. He placed his hands on the wall on either side of her head and leaned down until his breath tickled her lips. "You." He whispered this so softly, Hermione wasn't sure she heard him correctly. But she didn't take any time to puzzle over it, seeing as how she was too focused on his stormy gray eyes and keeping her heart beating. "But," he said this louder, flashing his trademark smirk, "I think this will do for now."

And then he kissed her.

Draco only meant to give Hermione a soft, playful kiss. But the second his lips connected with hers, he lost all control. He maintained enough reason to remember that his kiss might not be welcome, but he couldn't resist tangling his hands in her hair in order to tilt her head just enough to deepen the kiss. After a minute or so, he realized that she hadn't moved since his kiss. "Hermione," he breathed, pulling away a few inches. Her eyes were closed, but they opened at his use of her first name. He rested his forehead on hers. "Tell me you want this."

Hermione opened her mouth, but no words came out. _Yes! _She screamed in her head. _I want this! I want you! _When she didn't answer, Draco assumed it was because she didn't have the right words to let him down easy. He gave a sad smile and released her head.

"It's okay. No hard feelings." He kissed her tenderly on the cheek and turned away from her, running his hands through his hair and taking a deep breath. _Idiot! Say something! Do something! _She thought. With a burst of courage, Hermione took a step into the unknown and walked around to face him. He was staring at the ceiling.

"You didn't even give me time to catch my breath." She murmured. He jerked his head down to look at her, eyes wide with shock and uncertainty. She gave a small smile. "I mean, I always knew you were impatient, but this has to be a new record for you-". She was silenced by his second kiss. Only this time, she kissed him back. Stretching up on her toes, she twined her hands around his neck as he possessively gripped her hips and pushed her back against the wall again. Using the wall as support, she arched her back and wrapped her legs around his waist. He moved his lips to her neck and she whimpered, grabbing his head and pulling his mouth back to hers. She gently bit his bottom lip and pulled, causing a deep, guttural groan from his throat. After one more hard kiss, Draco pulled Hermione off of him and pushed away. Both were breathing heavily. "Why…" she gasped. "Why did you stop?" he grinned, though there was regret in his eyes. He didn't want to pull away, but…

"I didn't know how much longer I would be satisfied with just kissing you." He said wolfishly.

"What – oh. _Oh."_ Hermione blushed scarlet. He chuckled and stepped close to her, brushing her cheek with the back of his knuckles.

"You are so beautiful." He murmured. Her blush deepened. "I will always regret every unkind word I said to or about you."

"Draco, no. I've been just as horrible to you. But I don't want to talk about that right now."

"What do you want to talk about then?" he asked with a smirk.

"I don't want to talk at all." She said boldly, and grabbed his shirt. Pulling him against her, she reveled in the feel of his muscled chest as she ran her hands over it while he kissed her senseless.

"We should go." Draco mumbled before pressing another kiss to her lips.

"Yeah." She replied, and kissed him.

"Tell me to stop." He commanded, just as his hands slipped under her shirt and began tracing nonsensical patterns on her back. Hermione said nothing, only pulled him closer to her and kissed him harder. "Tell me to stop." His voice was almost desperate, as was his searing kiss.

"No." she whispered while threading her fingers through his front belt loops. Another groan, another powerful kiss, and Draco again pushed away.

"Vixen." He accused. She grinned, but frowned in confusion when he said, "Living with you is going to be a thousand times harder now."

"Why?" he tried to not laugh at her pout. He leaned close and kissed the spot just below her ear before whispering,

"Because I don't know how I'm going to keep my hands off of you."

Hermione smiled, causing Draco's heart to skip a beat. She turned, took a few steps away, then looked back and said,

"So don't."

And with that, they both gathered the cleaning supplies and headed to the Room of Requirement, hands entwined.

**You guys are absolutely freaking welcome. I now give you permission to bow down to my fluffiness. Ohh, man. That was fun to write. Anyways, as always, review! Oh, and a big shout out to **_**starkidsftw**_** who wrote **_**The Seven Deadly Sins**_**. Several things in this story were tribute to you (the potions class, the tickling – a.k.a. some of my fav scenes from your story). This was for you. Mwuah.*blows kiss* Go read it, y'all. If you love Dramione, you will LOVE this one. Okay, that's all for now. Love ya lots, see you soon!**


	6. Chapter 6

**So.. You probably hate me 'cause I took so long to update. Oh, well. All good things to those who wait. And I'd like to think my story is pretty good. Anyways, disclaimer, blah blah blah, I don't own anything. Enjoy!**

"Miss Granger? Miss Granger!" Professor Flitwick's voice jerked Hermione from her pleasant dream.

"Huh?" She blinked sleepily, quickly sitting upright. "Oh, sorry, Professor. I – I haven't been sleeping very well recently."

"Are you unwell?" the concerned professor asked.

"No, I'm fine. Just a little tired. What were you talking about?" With her question, the professor resumed the lecture. She sat tensely, chastising herself. What was wrong with her?! She did NOT have feelings for Malfoy. She couldn't… right? Lost in her thoughts, she didn't notice Draco take out a piece of parchment and start writing. She noticed only when he elbowed her. She looked to her right to see Draco sliding the parchment over to her side of the desk.

_Be honest. Are you sick? Because I would _love _an excuse to get out of this class._

Hermione rolled her eyes at him and jotted down a quick response.

_Of course not. Now pay attention._

To her dismay, he continued writing when she slid the paper back to his side.

_Why should I? It's not like you were. What were you dreaming about, anyways? Seemed pretty intense. Was it about me?_

Upon reading his answer, she flushed a bright red and ignored him, hoping he would stop. He didn't.

_You're blushing! You _were _dreaming about me! Did you have a traitorous dream about your sworn enemy?_

Frantically, she scribbled an answer.

_No! Don't be ridiculous. I wasn't dreaming about anything. I was just sleeping. And I'm blushing because this is the first time I've fallen asleep in class and I don't like being the center of attention._

She slid the paper to him and prayed to Merlin that he would believe her. She watched as he read it.

He didn't write a response, only folded the paper and pocketed it in his robes. When she shot him a curious look, he simply winked and turned his attention to the lecture. Once class ended, they gathered their books and headed to the Great Hall for lunch.

"Why haven't you been sleeping?" Draco asked suddenly while they were walking.

"What? Oh, it's nothing." She responded distractedly.

"Hermione Granger falling asleep in class is not nothing." He argued.

"Why do you care?" she snapped, hoping if she sparked his anger he would drop the subject. Only he wasn't angry. He gave her a sympathetic look and said,

"You shouldn't let Weasley get you down like this. He's not worth it."

"That's not – " she began to argue when a hard push from behind sent her sprawling ungracefully to the floor. Draco stumbled a few steps, then turned with blazing eyes to see who the offender was. Seamus Finnegan stood there, looking proud of himself while a few other Gryffindors snickered. That is, until he looked at Draco. Immediately, his smile fell and he quickly took a few steps back.

"What gives you the right," Draco asked in a soft and deadly voice. "To touch her?" He turned and helped Hermione up, then faced Seamus again. "What has she done to you?"

"She.. she's a traitor." Seamus stuttered, eyes wide with terror.

"How? Because of that day in the Great Hall? What did she do besides get mad at the scum who broke her heart?" Seamus opened his mouth to argue, but closed it when he couldn't think of a compelling argument. His face, and the faces of the onlooking Gryffindors, changed from an expression of righteous anger to one of understanding and shame. Draco noticed this, and uttered a barely audible sigh of relief. "Apologize to her. Now." Draco had only been talking to Seamus when he commanded this, but suddenly six or seven people were tripping over themselves trying to apologize to Hermione.

"Hermione, I am SO sorry…"

"Ron is our mate, but he's a dirtbag…"

"I never believed what he said about you…"

"Please forgive us.."

She waved them away and gave them cautious smiles, telling them that it was fine. Once they left, the hall was deserted, save herself and Draco.

"Thank you." She murmured softly, turning to face him. He gave a soft smile and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, brushing her cheek in the process.

"Don't know how much good I did, but you're welcome." He replied. His hand dropped to his side, and she immediately missed the contact.

"Are you kidding?" she asked. "Did you see their faces? They completely respect you now. And I bet this story will spread. Before you know it, everyone will be chumming up to you."

Draco gave a surprised laugh. "Why?" he asked.

"Because – " she stopped, blushing. Draco stepped closer to her.

"Why?" he repeated, his voice low. She took a breath and looked up at him, piercing him with her gaze.

"Because everyone will want someone who will defend them as fiercely as you defended me today." They stood there for a few moments, neither one moving. Finally, Draco spoke.

"You would have done the same for me." He said this with a slightly awed voice, as if he had just realized that what he was saying was really true. Hermione nodded, coming to the same conclusion. Draco smiled and, breaking the moment between them, took a step back. "Come on." He said cheerfully. "I'm starving." Hermione smiled and started walking. Looking back, she teased,

"Be careful, Mr. Malfoy. Keep this up, and people might start thinking that you're one of the good guys." Draco grinned and caught up to her, slinging his arm around her shoulders.

"That, my good friend," Hermione's breath caught at the word 'friend'. "couldn't possibly happen. I've spent far too long building up my reputation."

"You're right." She responded a little breathlessly. "No one would ever mistake you for someone _nice." _Draco laughed and squeezed her shoulders in a side-hug.

"Miss Granger, you are truly remarkable. I can't remember the last time I laughed this much."

"It's a gift." She replied primly, and Draco gave a loud guffaw. She joined in his infectious laughter, and soon the two could be heard clear down the hall.

They didn't notice Professor McGonagall smiling to herself as she walked down the hall in the opposite direction, listening to them roar with laughter.

**You didn't think it was going to be that easy, did you? Please. That was not nearly enough drama for my taste. This is just the beginning.**

**Sorry for the delay, finals is approaching. Ick. Anywho, as always, REVIEW! Love you lots!**


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